Church and state collide in the corridors of Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, where the students square off in Qur’an recital contests and the head of the Muslim Brotherhood eats Big Macs on the sly. On the prospectus it’s billed as “a beacon of Islam”. In reality it’s a warren of dark corners, a place so thick with intrigue that even the most astute student of conspiracy thrillers may sometimes find themselves struggling to keep up.
Our hero is Adam (Tawfeek Barhom), a lowly fisherman’s son who’s awarded a scholarship, only to be promptly recruited as a government informant. Now he’s working for Colonel Ibrahim (Fares Fares), the wily, bear-like state enforcer, wedged in between the warring factions, scared half out of his wits. Each night, he beds down in a cramped dormitory, surrounded by his fellow students. For all he knows, they might be spies and informants themselves.
